REFILE-LPC-Banks close to selling down €375m Alvest buyout loan

LONDON, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Bankers are wrapping up a €375m-equivalent leveraged loan financing backing a buyout of French airport ground support firm Alvest, banking sources said on Tuesday.

Canadian pension fund Caisse de depot et Placement du Quebec and private equity firm Ardian entered into exclusive talks to acquire a significant stake in Alvest from French Sagard Private Equity Partners, the companies said in September.

Bank of Ireland, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole, CIC, ING and Societe Generale are leading the debt financing, which is close to being sold down via a limited syndication process to friend and family investors, the sources said.

The financing comprises a €100m term loan B, a €200m-equivalent dollar denominated term loan B and €75m of undrawn facilities.

Pricing on the euro TLB is 350bp over Euribor, while pricing on the dollar TLB is 390bp over Libor. Both are offered at 99.5 OID, the sources said.

Alvest designs, manufactures and distributes technical products for the aviation industry and has more than 1,800 employees. It operates 10 factories in the US, Canada, France and China.